The subject matter described herein relates generally to agricultural vehicles such as tractors. Specifically, the present embodiments described below relate to automatic guidance systems with stability control that may be employed in agricultural vehicles.
Many types of agricultural vehicles (e.g., tractors, combines, sprayers, etc.) may benefit from an automatic guidance system that navigates the vehicle through a preselected area. The automatic guidance system typically has an array of sensors, accelerometers, and other measurement devices to monitor the state of the vehicle (e.g., current speed, road slope, vehicle orientation, etc.). Other computer systems within the agricultural vehicle may also provide data to the automatic guidance system. An operator may upload or select information regarding the preselected area, and start the automatic guidance system, which uses the information regarding the state of the vehicle and the preselected area to navigate the vehicle.
During operation, an agricultural vehicle may approach a swath line or a sharp turn; in such a situation, the automatic guidance system may arbitrarily limit the steering angle of the vehicle. The arbitrary limit for the steering angle may lead to poor turns by the agricultural vehicle, which may result in the vehicle being unable to follow the swath line, transition to a new swath line, or curve properly. Instances in which the agricultural vehicle veers off-course may result in loss of crop, or premature disengagement of the automatic guidance system.